Livingstone thanks Hooker for his letter via the Pioneer. When he received it the party had just returned from Makololo country and were thinking about going up the Rovuma [River]. Dr Kirk wanted to return home, as by Victoria Falls he had worked up a large section of the country's botany. However, Kirk stayed on news of a steamer and a new field up Rovuma. He discusses some of the difficulties he and Kirk encountered trying to navigate the Rovuma and later the Shire. There were rapids, storms and famine. He writes about the evidence of a Zulu tribe called the Mazitu or Mazite and the Portuguese slaves and slavery they have encountered, as well as conflicting accounts of the size and navigability of the Rovuma. They took the Bishop to a spot about 15 miles south of Zomba. It will take a year for the party to transport a steamer around the cataracts, it will soon arrive in parts to be screwed together. Kirk will tell Hooker about the palm oil nut ground on the lake, it is different to that found on the West Coast and is boiled into cakes. He mentions Hooker's GENERA PLANTARUM. He chastises Hooker for not coming out more, and says that he should be more of a ‘popularity hunter’. He suggests Hooker could do something popular with his museum in the vein of Playfair and Sir Roderick. Livingstone discusses Rae, who was entrusted to address and send cases of specimens to Sir William Jackson Hooker, some of the boxes were seen unaddressed at Mozambique, some bore Kirk's name and a missionary added the broad direction 'England'. One of the boxes contained birds belonging to Livingstone's brother. Mr Mellor has collected some good specimens for them in Zambia, although many are duplicates of Kirk's. It annoys Kirk that many are the same species as Welwitsch collected in Angola and Mellor's would have been registered first if not for Rae's mistake. He sends his respects to the Hooker family and writes some of his own family news. Page 1 of 6

What the Plant Community is Saying

Related Materials

JSTOR is part of ITHAKA, a not-for-profit organization helping the academic community use digital technologies to preserve the scholarly record and to advance research and teaching in sustainable ways.